


heart in full bloom.

by Murderless_Crow



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-26 21:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30112614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murderless_Crow/pseuds/Murderless_Crow
Summary: Lain winced with a snort. "You got it bad, man." The stare he received did nothing to dether him. "She doesn't bite, you know? Well, only a bit. She's beginning to teethe.""I got it just fine."
Relationships: Ethari & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Lain/Tiadrin (The Dragon Prince), Rayla & Runaan (The Dragon Prince)
Kudos: 20





	heart in full bloom.

**Author's Note:**

> (I just want them to be happy dammit)

His throat was dry and his heart was beating like crazy. His training kicked in automatically and stilled the tremors that threatened his hands, but they were clammy anyway. By the moon, he hadn’t been that nervous in years.

Since he was not on the job, he indulged in a fast paced stroll through the room. He even let out a subtle sigh.

“My heart, calm down.” Ethari grinned at him from the coach. “You are going to be ill if you keep up like that.”

He sighed again, to Ethari’s amusement. He took pity on his partner and stood up to take his face between his hands. “Everything will go alright.”

“I’m so nervous, Ethari. I’ve never done anything like this before. And I really should revise those training plans I was talking about earlier-“

“We can’t postpone it again, she might as well kill you if she hears another of your excuses. You’re the master assassin of the Silvergroove, I’m sure you will find a way to make it through,” said Ethari with a chuckle. When he saw the concealed worry on Runaan’s eyes, he couldn’t help but caress his horn with a feather-light touch. “I know how important this is for you, there’s no way you will do it wrong.”

Just as Runaan was about to kiss Ethari, three knocks froze the couple on their tracks. Ethari looked at Runaan to tell him to open the door, but a statue had taken the place of his husband. He nudged his arm, but the assassin was nailed to the floor.

“Hello? It’s us!” said a man from the outside. After a few seconds, a flurry of knocks stroke against their door. “Runaan! I know you’re in there! Open the door!”, yelled a female voice. “I won’t take a no for an answer this time!”

This startled the frozen elf enough to prompt him to walk towards the door. With stiff movements, he opened the door to greet the family waiting outside.

“Hello Tiadrin, Lain.” To anyone but the people on that house, his voice would seem natural, but they could hear the strained pitch shaping his words.

The couple outside greeted them with a smile and entered the house without hesitation. “You know, I’m almost surprised you haven’t got any last minute task to do back on the training grounds, Runaan”, Tiadrin’s eyes glinted with mischief.

His usual retort was cut when the precious bundle on her arms moved. He hadn’t stopped looking at it since he opened the door.

“Well, he has worked very hard lately. I’m sure there wasn’t anything left for him to do.” His husband elbowed him lightly before closing the door. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, I’ve never so tired in my life. I could fall asleep on my feet.” It was true, if Lain’s eye bags had any say on it. “The wee one has decided that sleeping during the day is not for her, and that night naps are optional.” His tired tone didn’t diminish the love on his gaze.

“And you don’t even have to feed her. Sunlight blind me, I don’t know how many times have I woken up in the middle of the day to feed her. Yeah, to feed you! You’re going to be big and strong just like your mama!” She tickled the bundle on her arms with a smile on her face.

Ethari approached Tiadrin and looked at the baby in her arms with a soft look on his eyes. “She is beautiful. Hi, wee one. I’m Ethari.” Runaan looked the small hand waving in the air in front of Tiadrin with fascination as his husband let the baby grab his finger and laughed.

The tired parents walked towards the coach and Ethari followed them, making silly faces to the baby’s delight. Her bright laugh reminded Runaan of dew shining in the moonlight, and before he could even analyse why such a thought even crossed his mind, Tiadrin called him from the living room.

“Oi, did you get lost in your own house? Come here so you can meet my daughter properly!”

The whole situation had him so stunned that no reply came to his usually sharp mind. Still walking on tin limbs, he plumped on the only empty sit on the living room. Which just happened to be besides Tiadrin and the cooing baby. His eyes narrowed and he stared at the shit-eating grin on his husband’s handsome face.

“Hello,” he managed to choke. Whatever magnetism had attracted his gaze towards the baby the whole visit, it decided to stop working in that very moment. His eyes refused to approach the bundle on his friend’s arms.

Lain winced with a snort. “You got it bad, man.” The stare he received did nothing to dether him. “She doesn’t bite, you know? Well, only a bit. She’s beginning to teethe.”

“I got it just fine.” The snorts he received did not encourage him. Neither did the lump on his throat. _You can do it. Come on, it’s just a baby. Greet her, coddle her a bit, how hard can this be?_ His eyes began the slow crawl towards Tiadrin’s chest. His feet, then the table, the armchair, Ethari’s barely contained smirk, Tiadrin’s left horn, Tiadrin’s right horn, Tiadrin’s eyes, nose, lips, neck, and finally, a pair of purple eyes looking right back at him.

He felt like the silver-deer in the arrow’s path. Shouldn’t he breathe? He should be breathing. The silence stretched uncomfortably and no one twitched a muscle. He felt oddly self-conscious under that purple gaze, and the clamminess of his hands grew to really uncomfortable levels. _Why is everyone so quiet_.

To his horror, those purple eyes were now shiny and her pale face took on a red shade that foretold terrible things were about to happen. To help things, the lump on his throat had grown into his own particular rendition of Mount Kalik. A weird sound reached his ears and he couldn’t be sure whether it came from the baby or Xadia’s new high peak.

A screech that possibly couldn’t come from someone so small shattered the quiet in the room. The baby was suddenly crying like the world was about to end, and the room exploded into action. Tiadrin and Lain were soothing their daughter as best as they could with a frozen elf blocking their way, while Ethari soothed his husband with quiet words as he tried to reach him.

Lain took the baby in his arms and rocked her, pacing from one end of the room to another. Tiadrin threw an apologetic look on his direction.

“Don’t worry! It’s not you! Well, maybe-No, it’s alright! It’s fine. You know babies, they sometimes get fussy for no reason at all.”

“Oh, Runaan. It’s not your fault.” Ethari patted his arm twice with a gentle smile. “Once she calms down, she will like you just fine.”

Runaan had yet to move a muscle, but from the corner of his eye he could see Lain’s efforts were working their magic. The desperate wails quieted down until only some sparse sobs could be heard.

“Okay, love. It’s okay. See? There you go. Yeah, good. What happened?” Lain rocked her some more before heading back towards the coach. “Runaan is a good friend, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Ethari carried on with his own mission. “She knows that you’re nervous and doesn’t like it. Just relax.” _As if._

“Seriously, with the look you were giving her it’s no wonder she was uncomfortable.”

“Tiadrin!”

“It’s true! He looks like he is on the verge of having a stroke! Just look at him.”

“You’re not helping, dear.”

“I know.”

Runaan’s breath came back just as the baby’s cries ended. “I’m good.” His strangled choke didn’t seem to convince no one.

“Sure you are. Want to give it another try?”

“Ethari, don’t you want to hold her?”, deflected Runaan.

“I know what you’re doing there, but I do want to hold her.”

Lain put the precious bundle on his husband’s arms and the blessed kid _giggled_. Her chubby hands tried to grab Ethari’s silky hair and patted clumsily at his facial marks while Runaan’s eyes widened. Ethari was just as delighted as the baby, and his eyes were half-closed when they looked at the kid on his arms. Runaan’s heart skipped a beat at the sight in front of him.

“See? He is relaxed.”

“How? Just… how?”

Tiadrin and Lain exchanged an amused look that didn’t help him at all.

“I have the same question regarding yourself.”

Ethari and Tiadrin coddled and played with the baby on the floor, filling the room with high pitched laughter that brightened the mood considerably. Meanwhile, Lain and Runaan talked about the upcoming Moon Festival and their plans, which had the side effect of making him forget about the shrieking incident.

In the middle of a conversation, Runaan looked back at Ethari to confirm a point and the moment his back was turned, Lain and Tiadrin threw each other a conniving look.

“Yes, it was an Earthblood elf. So-“

“Hey Runaan, do you mind if I have a drink?”

“No, help yourself. You know where the kitchen is.” With a nod, Tiadrin disappeared into the kitchen. When she came back with the drinks, she took the baby from the floor where she was playing with Ethari and sat down with a nonchalant air of confidence on her previous seat on the couch.

Runaa was in the middle of a very intense debate when he suddenly felt a light weight being thrust into his chest. He cradled the bundle in reflex and looked down only to have those purple orbs looking at him one more time.

It was such a fragile thing, just there between his arms, watching him with her painfully innocent eyes. She was so light, that he was afraid of hurting her just with his gentle hold. That time, however, there was none of the previous nerves. He felt a rare warmth take light on his chest, and he just couldn’t look away, couldn’t stop looking at that beautiful face. He was leaning forward to have a better look at the precious life pressed against his chest when he felt a small hand touch his nose. Something exploded within him in that moment. He may already be dead, but his heart was beating and twisting in wild disagreement. He felt like a faithful devout discovering a secret shrine. He was hopelessly, instantly, bonded for life. Something had grown deep roots in his heart when those innocent eyes looked, really looked, at him. He was in love.

“Hi, Rayla. I’m Runaan.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is all 100% speculation and having fun with the characters, so they might feel OOC. We don't know the kind of relationship that any of this characters have, but I had so much fun making the serious and stoic assassin have a serial stroke situation for one (1) smol bby.
> 
> And this was going to be the first part of a 5+1 fic, but it grew wings and flew on the direction it wanted
> 
> Also, I got almost 0 idea of how different dialects work on English, so I tried to give it a Scottish flair with some words but I've probably failed miserably on the expressions and such. C'est la vie ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
